


Acquaintanceship and Devotion

by coffee666



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-25
Updated: 2016-04-25
Packaged: 2018-06-04 12:36:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6658000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coffee666/pseuds/coffee666
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I brought you something.” He can’t contain his smile as he hands it to her.</p><p>“Superstars of the Superbowl...” she smiles too. “I knew there was a reason to live.”</p><p>“I uh, brought you something too.” Krycek handed her the copy of time magazine he’d bought at a newsstand no less than ten minutes ago.</p><p>“Thank you.” Her eyes scanned the cover before flicking up to him. “Who are you?”</p><p>“Oh –Uh, Alex Krycek.” He awkwardly stuck out his hand. “I was your replacement…on the X-Files.”</p><p>What if Krycek was on Mulder's side during the time Scully was missing? How would that effect their relationship?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Acquaintanceship and Devotion

**Author's Note:**

> this is gay and im suing myself. catch me on tumblr @canonmulder

 

“I brought you something.” He can’t contain his smile as he hands it to her.

“Superstars of the Superbowl...” she smiles too. “I knew there was a reason to live.”

“I uh, brought you something too.” Krycek handed her the copy of time magazine he’d bought at a newsstand no less than ten minutes ago.

“Thank you.” Her eyes scanned the cover before flicking up to him. “Who are you?”

“Oh –Uh, Alex Krycek.” He awkwardly stuck out his hand. “I was your replacement…on the X-Files.”

“Nice to meet you.” She shakes his hand. “So, how did you hold up?”

“Nothing could have prepared me.” Krycek smirked before jabbing Mulder in the shoulder with his finger. “I wish this guy came with a manual…”

“Oh trust me. I could spend the next year writing one…it still wouldn’t be enough.” She laughed.

“Any advice on how to get him to shut up?” Krycek tilted his head.

“When I figure it out, I’ll let you know….”

“Alright, that’s enough.” Mulder interjected, placing a hand on Scully’s shoulder. “Glad to have you back….We’re going to go. You should rest. Oh—and I kept this for you….” He reached into his pocket and pulled out her cross necklace, before gently placing it in her hand.

Out in the hallway, Mulder leaned against the wall for a moment and closed his eyes. That second relaxed his body more than any of the little sleep he’d gotten in the past two months. He could feel Agent Krycek’s eyes on him, and the past few months played again in his head.

***

“I don’t need anyone else!” Mulder snapped, pacing back and forth in front of Skinner’s desk. “What I need is to find her! Not replace her!”

“I understand that you might –“ The Assistant Director’s attempt at sympathy was cut short.

“No, you don’t understand! None of you could possibly understand!” He was thinking of all the other agents he passed that gave him pitiful looks and tried to offer their condolences. The worst of when they said things like _we all miss Agent Scully_. “None of you had what we had!”

“Agent Mulder…” Skinner’s voice remained soft, despite Mulder’s outbursts. “This isn’t a permanent fixture. We’re just trying to find someone to help your work load…”

Mulder didn’t say anything. He just dragged his hands down his face, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes. He felt like staggering, like falling onto the office floor and not getting up. The thought of someone else sharing the basement with him, someone other than Scully…sitting at his desk, looking at the X-Files…it was disgusting!

“We’re doing everything we can to find her…”

“Well that’s not good enough!” Mulder felt like his blood was going to boil over. He wouldn’t be surprised if he died of an aneurism in the next week.

He didn’t want to stick around and get yelled at for his outburst. He also didn’t want his boss to see him cry. He slammed the door behind him and stomped heavily all the way down to the basement.

***

Skyland Mountain’s webpage starred back into his retinas at full speed. He’d been staring at the computer for so long that he wasn’t even sure if he fell asleep or not, what with the screen light burning through his eyelids.

That’s where she was. Where she’d disappeared. He didn’t care what anyone said, he was going out there. There had to be something there. Something like a clue. He knew that area had already been scouted, but they didn’t look at things the way he did. He was so used to reading X-Files. He was sure he’d find something. Something to bring her back to him.

The soft knock at the door brought him out if his thoughts. He turned off the monitor just as the door opened.

“Nobody down here.” Mulder didn’t look at the man standing in the door way.

“Agent Mulder?” the man snapped on the light and Mulder squinted in the sudden brightness, his stomach turning.

“I see the bureaus latest weasel has nosed his way down here.” Mulder felt a rush of hatred towards the man that he didn’t dare look at. He kept his eyes down at his desk, and when he shuffled a few papers, he uncovered a half-eaten bag of sunflower seeds.

“I’m Agent Krycek.” He sounded nice enough, a notion that only made Mulder feel sicker as he popped a few seeds in his mouth. “I’m looking forward to working with you.”

“Save it.” He snapped, blood boiling again. He stood up from his chair, his back still to the other agent. Now he was curious for the first time what it was that Skinner had said to Scully and Krycek prior to sticking them down here that made them both _look forward to working with him._ Maybe Mulder just never noticed how high the regards were in which Skinner held him.

“I know why you’re here.” Mulder closed his eyes. “But it’s pointless…”

“You’re telling me.” There was an edge to his voice like a hidden sword. “They grab me from my office desk job and stick me on the X-Files. What are they, crazy? I can’t be a match for what Agent Scully was…I mean, you two are legendary.”

Mulder turned to face the man for the first time. He was rather meek-looking in a plain brown suit and neatly combed hair. He looked exactly like someone pulled from a desk job. It was a sharp contrast to an unshaven, coffee stained Mulder.

Suddenly there was such a wave of remorse that it must have reached his face. He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. It wasn’t this guy’s fault. All of the hatred he felt for what happened to Scully, it wasn’t right to direct it onto him. Especially because he apparently didn’t want to be here just as much as Mulder didn’t want him here.

“Just…stay out of my way, okay.” Mulder grabbed his coat as hell as the keys to a rental car and started out of the office.

“Where are we going?” Krycek stayed close to Mulder enough to slip into the elevator.

“I’m going to do some investigating –I don’t need your help.”

“But Assistant Director Skinner said,”

“And I’m saying stay out of my way—“ Mulder’s harsh voice echoed in the small space of the elevator. “ _Please._ Please cover for me. I have to go to Skyland Mountain. I have to find her.”

“Then I have to go with you.” Krycek was close still as they stepped out of the elevator. “I can’t cover for you…not when my job is to more-or-less keep an eye on you…”

“They think a rookie can keep an eye on me!?” Mulder’s lack of sleep and anger at the inconvenience that was Krycek showed through in his inability to calm down. All of his thoughts about not being hard on Krycek were out the window. “They think I need a baby sitter?! What I need is to find her! Not be tailed by some fresh-face, brown-nosing, shoe-polishing—“

“Hey!” The sword of his voice was back full-force as Krycek grabbed Mulder roughly by the shoulders, an action that shook him down to his feet. Mulder swallowed, color staining his cheeks as he looked at Krycek. “I’m supposed to keep an eye on you…” his grip on Mulder slackened. “They’re going to give me hell if I lose you two seconds after they send me down here. Wherever you go…we go together.”

Despite his pessimistic lenses that he seemed to be looking through lately, he could see not only the bright-eyed and bushy tailed kid that the FBI saw, but he could also see past that…at the eyes of a guy on his first real assignment, one that he didn’t want to mess up. He probably really was a brown-nosing shoe-polisher just as Mulder had thought. A true nerd, if Mulder ever saw one. There was also a…something else in the way he talked.

“German?” Mulder asked, stepping back out of Krycek’s grip and attempting to regain his composure.

“What?”

“Are you German?”

“Russian, actually…My parents were cold war immigrants.”

Mulder mentally opened a file on Krycek and shoved that in. He might as well keep tabs on him. Some of this might be useful, one day. If they were really stuck together.

“Here…” Mulder tossed him the keys. “You can drive.”

“That’s probably a good idea.” Krycek walked ahead, taking the lead. “You don’t seem fit…”

“What.”

“You missed a few buttons this morning…” Krycek smirked a bit as Mulder glanced down. He hurriedly began to fix his shirt as they stalked out to the parking lot. “I gotta say, you’re not really like they said you’d be.”

“How do you mean?” Mulder got into the passenger’s seat and flipped down the visor to examine his tired reflection in the mirror. Krycek started the car and kept his eyes ahead when he spoke again.

“Well, you’re not very spooky…” he was fighting a smile.

“Are they still calling me that?” Mulder asked as if he didn’t know. He leaned his seat back and put his feet up on the dashboard.

“I may have heard it once or twice…just before lunch.” When Krycek laughed, it was light, as if testing the waters. When Mulder laughed it was for the first time in weeks. It was felt rusty, but once he started he couldn’t stop. Maybe it was the lack of sleep, or just the fact that it’s what Scully would have wanted.

***

Skyland Mountain was a bust. More or less. Mulder sat in his basement office clutching the cross necklace he’d recovered from the site. He didn’t know how the other agents had overlooked it. That just proved he needed to be the one out there looking. Not here…facing a meeting where he was no doubt going to get chewed out for disobeying orders.

 Krycek was in there already. Mulder couldn’t help but feel guilty for getting him in trouble, especially after what happened while they were out there. They said that the entire site was closed and that no one was allowed up, no how many times Mulder had flashed his badge. Finally, they were allowed up on the tram.

 “You stay here—“ Mulder had started.

“No.” Krycek said simply.

“Fine, whatever, come on.” Mulder didn’t feel like staying and arguing. Not when he was so close to potentially finding something about Scully.

Nothing was going to stop him, not even the tram conductor, who was no doubt working from the inside. Krycek and Mulder exchanged glances as the tram halted.

“What’s going on? Let’s go.” Mulder shouted into the communication box. There was no reply. “I can’t believe this…” He opened the door and leaned out.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Krycek asked urgently.

Mulder ignored him and climbed onto the roof of the tram. He glanced forward and tried to assess how he would go about jumping onto the next tram.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Krycek asked again as he scrambled to climb onto the roof as well.

“I’m gonna be sick…” Kyrcek’s timid voice cut through the windy air as he gazed down to the ground far below.

“Get back inside.” Mulder leaned forward and braced himself on the cable connecting the carts.

“Not without you. If you die, it’s on my head.” He stayed on his hands and knees and inched towards Mulder. “I am not getting yelled at for this back at the bureau.”

“If I die, just make sure they knew it was my idea…” Mulder said before jumping.

“Mulder!” Krycek gasped as Mulder landed harshly on the roof of the next tram. Gripping the cable just as Mulder had done, he prepared to jump. “…о мой Бог.” He whispered before leaping.

“I was wrong!” Krycek shouted over the sound of the whipping wind as he stood up on the next tram, his shoulder having taken quite an impact. “You’re exactly like they said! You’re insane!”

“You can tell that to Skinner, then!” Mulder shouted back before taking the next leap.

“O мой Бог…” Krycek couldn’t believe his own bravery as he followed Mulder. He wasn’t even one for roller coasters, and now he was potential risking his life. And for what? Someone he met two hours ago? Well, following Mulder along was better than staying behind and getting blamed for this recklessness. At least if he died, he wouldn’t be around to get in trouble.

Suddenly, with a lurch, the tram began moving once more. Kyrcek had taken to staying on his hands and knees to keep his center of gravity lower, and to avoid the exact thing that was happening to Mulder. As the tram speed up, Mulder gasped as he nearly toppled over the edge.

In a flash, Kyrcek leapt forward and grabbed Mulder’s hand, his grip tightening around the other’s wrist.  

“Don’t look down…” he whispered to Mulder.

“Yea, looking down…that’s the scary part about this…” Mulder’s dry monotonous comment made Krycek’s heart skip in the way that no dangerous fall could. “Let go.” Mulder said as he found his footing on the tram window.

He let go of Mulder’s hand as the other climbed in through the window. They were approaching the end of the line as the door opened.

“Come on.” Mulder offered his hand again.

Grateful to get back in where the risk of falling and dying was minimized, Krycek took Mulder’s hand again and carefully climbed inside the tram.

“Are you crazy?!” Krycek asked as Mulder reached over with his free hand and shut the door behind him.

“I thought we already established I was…”

“You almost died!”

“But I didn’t.”

“Because I saved you…” Krycek said, deciding that it really was worth it, as Mulder would have really fallen if not for him.

“Thanks, by the way.” He kept his eyes down and rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. “Are you still afraid?”

“No.” Despite the fact that anyone would be in that situation, he didn’t want it pointed it out.

“Then let go of my hand.”

Krycek’s mind was blank for any sort of retort as he dropped Mulder’s hand and quickly shoved both of his hands in his pockets. He was grateful for the distraction that was the tram coming to a halt.

The only thing recovered from the site was Scully’s necklace. Mulder now sat in the basement, turning it over and over in his hand. The only thing offering him any sort of peace was knowing that Duane Barry was dead.

Mulder glanced up as Krycek walked in the office, stepping lightly as if he were aware of Mulder’s fragile state.

“What did they do to you?” Mulder carefully slipped the necklace into his desk drawer.

“Nothing.” He walked around in front of the desk for a minute, thrown off by the lack of somewhere to sit. “He yelled because he took a bureau rented car on a non-approved case, but that was it.”

“Well, I better go up and get mine.” Mulder stood up and sighed.

“He, uh, doesn’t wanna see you.”

“Why not? He knows it’s my fault.”

“Just be glad. You’re off the hook…”

Mulder stopped and looked at Krycek again. The other’s avoidance of eye contact confirmed the suspicion in his mind.

“I don’t need that!” he was surprised at his own anger. That seemed to be his default emotion lately. “I don’t need you taking the blame for me!”

“Relax, no one got in trouble. It’s my first offense! You, however, already have like a hundred reprimands…”

“Don’t tell me what I have! I know what I have!” he faltered when he realized how bad that sounded. “I don’t need your protection…”

“Well, excuse me for trying to save your job. The second time I saved your ass today.” the edge in his voice stung like a fresh wound. Mulder quickly decided he liked the brown-nosing office boy more than its angry counterpart.

“I just…I just don’t need any favors…” Mulder sat back down and placed his head in his hands.

“But you don’t deserve to get yelled at either…” the closeness of this voice made Mulder very aware of how the desk was the only thing between them. Mulder wasn’t necessarily a hugger, but he was willing to bypass that policy just for a moment. “You’re going through a hard time…I’m not gonna lie and say I get it. Because I don’t. I can only imagine…and I’m sorry.”

Mulder dragged his face up and looked at all the folders on his desk. He hated the idea of working on an X-File now. He and Krycek trekking across some small town and looking at Bigfoot footprints while Scully was still out there somewhere, it just wasn’t right. But it was a distraction –and he was not about to cry again.

“What did you used to do…at your desk job?” Mulder asked him quietly.

“Investigated insurance fraud and tax invasion, mostly.”

“Where you any good?”

“I was the best. They called me Spooky Krycek.” He briefly cracked a smile and for a split second it was easy to pretend everything was okay.

“Well grab a folder, Spooky. We have a lot of work to do.”

***

Alex Krycek was no Dana Scully, for starters, he was a lot more opened minded. He listened to Mulder’s theory with a certain something in his eyes, almost like wonderment.

“So, you really believe that?” Krycek would ask.

“Let’s just say, I want to believe.” Mulder would say, before flashing the dorkiest grin possible.

It was a sunny morning in D.C., just outside the J. Edgar Hoover building when Mulder told Krycek about his sister. They’d been back in town after a case for a couple of days, and Krycek was rather firm in his request that they sit outside. Something about the sunlight being good for him.

“She was gone. Just like that.” Mulder took a sip from the styrofoam cup of coffee. It tasted like it’d been sitting in the unplugged pot a little too long.

“Wow…that sounds rough.” Krycek didn’t say anything else, but out of the corner of his eye, Mulder could see him watching him. That same sort of something in his eyes his sometimes got when Mulder went on about a theory. When Krycek looked at him like that, it was easy to forget that he was so sad and lonely at night. “But you think the X-Files is the key to finding your sister?”

“That’s what I’m hoping.” He took Krycek silence as to mean he understood, and didn’t think he was insane. If he think it was insane, he just hoped he wouldn’t say so out loud.

Then something happened that Mulder hadn’t felt in such a long time that it took him a minute to realize what it was. Krycek gently placed his hand on top of Mulder’s free hand resting on the bench between them.

“Well, I hope you find her.”

Scully did that sort of thing all the time, so Mulder wasn’t sure it phased him so much. Maybe it was because he was very aware that this was the first time Krycek deliberately touched him since that first day. Even then, he’d only done it to stop Mulder from falling a thousand feet. He felt his heart pounding in his ears as he stared down into his coffee cup. The liquid shook with the slight tremble of his hand.

“Come on, let’s go inside.” Mulder said when he finally found his voice. He stood up quickly, still feeling warmth where the other’s hand had just been “We still have work to do.”

Krycek didn’t oppose Mulder nearly as much as Scully had done, so Mulder got away with putting a lot more on the reports. If Skinner noticed, he didn’t say anything, until one day.

Mulder was sitting in his office turning Scully’s necklace over and over in his hand. Krycek had gone out to get breakfast, but Mulder didn’t feel like going. Distracting himself with work only worked for so long, until he needed to hole up and cry again.

The office door opened and Skinner walked in holding the report that Mulder had just dropped off the night before.

“What the hell is this?” he asked, tossing the folder down into the desk.

“Uh.” Mulder discreetly opened his desk drawer and dropped the necklace inside before standing up.

“Do you think this is a game? Ghosts? Is this a joke to you?”

“Hey, you weren’t there! I know what I saw!” Mulder didn’t want to hear this. Not now. All day he’d been so down about Scully. It took all of his energy to crawl out of bed this morning. In fact, the only thing that motivated him was seeing Agent Krycek. He tried not to think too much about what that meant.

“You think ghosts murdered these people?!”

“Well, I can’t say for sure –they’re invisible, you know…” Mulder started. If Skinner wanted to kill Mulder in cold-blood out of pure frustration, he missed his chance. Just then, the door opened and Krycek walked in carrying a bag of donuts.

“Hey, I brought you a –Oh.” He visibly stiffened at the site of their angry boss. The friendly Krycek that Mulder had to come to know over the past few weeks was quickly replaced by the office worker boy he’d been previously. “What seems to be the problem, sir?”

“Did you read this report Agent Mulder wrote?” Skinner picked it back up and held it out to him.

“Is that the ghost one or the vampire one?” he asked quietly.

It took literally all of Mulder’s willpower not to start laughing. He kept his eyes down because he knew if he even glanced in Krycek’s direction, he really would start laughing.

“Agent Krycek, do you like working on the X-Files?” Skinner asked calmly.

“Oh, uh…it’s alright.”

“Do you like Agent Mulder?”

 _“What is this? High school gossip?”_ Mulder wondered, yet he cut his eyes over to Krycek and expectantly awaited his answer.

“He’s…alright…” Krycek’s voice wavered a bit.

Gee thanks.

“Well let me ask you one more thing…did you see these so-called ghosts?”

Oh god. Krycek rocked back and forth on his feet at the pressure of having them both watching him. He locked eyes with Mulder in what felt like the longest second in eternity before speaking.

“Uh…no sir. I didn’t see them.”

Mulder closed his eyes and turned away, trying not to take it too personally.

“I see.” Skinner nodded.

“I didn’t see them, because they’re invisible, you see…”

Skinner’s obvious annoyance was no match for Mulder’s overly obvious gratitude. He didn’t try to hide his wide smile as he looked at Skinner in an “I told you so” sort of way. Skinner wordlessly grabbed the report and left as Mulder silently vowed to give him a break and maybe let Krycek write the next report.

“Thanks…” said sheepishly.

“Here.” Krycek handed him the donuts. “Eat these. You can’t live off coffee and sunflower seeds, you know.”

“Aw, do you care about me or something?” Mulder asked as he opened the bag. When he looked up he saw Krycek staring at him. “…What?”

“You don’t look so good…”

“I didn’t sleep very well last night.” Mulder shrugged.

“You look like you haven’t slept in a long time.” Krycek reached up and placed his palm against Mulder’s forehead.

His breath hitched in his throat, but he didn’t recoil. Not even when Krycek’s hand slipped down and pressed against the side of his neck. He could feel Krycek’s pulse against his own.

“W-what are you doing?” Mulder tried not to look into his eyes.

“Checking for swollen glands…”

“I didn’t realize you were a doctor…” Mulder tried to ignore the smell of the other’s aftershave that filled the small space between them.

“This doesn’t really require a lot of medical training. Now stop talking, I’m trying to feel…”

Mulder kept his gaze on a fixed point just to the left of Krycek’s ear. He could feel his heart slamming in his chest as both of Krycek’s hands pressed against either side of his neck. He tried to tell himself that it was no big deal, that Scully used to do that sort of thing all the time, but he knew it was different now. For one, Krycek was taller than Scully, so it was a lot harder to not look at his face.

“So, how does it feel?” Mulder’s voice came out lower than intended.

“…Hot.” It was barely audible.

“Fever hot, or?” Mulder looked into Krycek’s eyes and instantly regretted it. He thought of the long drives they’d taken to all four of their cases, and how Krycek somehow made him laugh on all four of them. And How Krycek was very squeamish around dead bodies, where Scully wasn’t at all. But Krycek still took Mulder’s hand the way Scully did…

The office door opened again and Mulder slammed into the desk in his haste to pull back. Krycek stepped back and shoved his hands into his pockets. Mulder looked to Skinner standing in the doorway.

“What?” Mulder snapped a little too shortly.

Skinner looked between the two of them for a second.

“It’s Agent Scully. They found her. She’s in the hospital.”

The following week was the hardest of Mulder’s life. Scully was in the hospital fighting for her life, and no one could tell him how she got there. Every second that he spent by her bedside just made him want to find whoever did this to her and kill them.

Whenever he wasn’t by her bedside, he was in the waiting room. He drank the hospital’s coffee more out of habit than to actually stay awake. It’s not like he could sleep now, anyways. The most surprising thing was, in addition to Scully’s sister, Krycek also kept Mulder company in the waiting room.

 “You don’t have to stay here.” Mulder told him after it’d been a few hours.

“But I want to.” Krycek shifted closer to Mulder on the couch.

“Why do you put up with me?” Mulder whispered into his coffee cup.

“Because they pay me.” This time when Krycek placed his hand on Mulder’s, he let it stay there for a while, even if he was a little self-conscious about Scully’s sister watching them.

Despite the coffee, Mulder actually managed to drift off to sleep. When he opened his eyes, the waiting room was empty and it was dark aside from the moonlight pouring in the window. When he looked over, he gasped when he saw Krycek was slumped against him, asleep.

It was kind of nice, and Mulder wanted to go back to sleep, when he saw another person standing off in the threshold to the hallway. The nurse came forward and tapped her watch.

“I’m sorry, but you will have to leave for the night. We will have visiting hours again tomorrow.”

Mulder sat up and shook Krycek a bit by the shoulders.

“Krycek, get up…hey…Alex!”

“What? What time is it?” he sat up and rubbed his eyes.

“Late.” Mulder stood up and stretched. “We have to go. We can come back tomorrow.”

***

“You didn’t have to drive me home…” Mulder put his feet up on the dashboard and watched Krycek out of the corner of his eye to see if he minded.

“It’s no big deal.” He shrugged. “It beats taking a cab…get your feet off my dashboard.”

Mulder couldn’t help but smile as he loudly thumped his feet onto the floorboards. As he watched the light of the streetlamps pour in the window onto his lap, he thought about how Krycek had fallen asleep on him. He then thought about that time Krycek had checked him for swollen glands….he hadn’t let himself thing about that in a while, because he’d been so worried about Scully, but Mulder wasn’t stupid. He knew what that was. Well, he knew what would have happened if they hadn’t been interrupted.

Scully’s condition was pretty much the same all day. Mulder knew either she’d wake up, or…she wouldn’t. Despite the fact that they were now pulled up in front of Mulder’s building, he didn’t think he could fall asleep again. And he really didn’t want to be alone.

“…You wanna come inside?”

“Um…” Krycek’s hesitation made Mulder immediately regret asking. “…Have you got any tea?”

“Tea? I think so.” He lied. He hadn’t grocery shopped in months.

***

Mulder luckily found an old tea bag in the cupboard and started boiling some water. He was suddenly aware of how messy his apartment was. As he walked through the living room, he tried to discreetly pick up the stacks of magazines and files.

“Sorry, it’s kinda messy…” he said as he shoved some of the papers into the trash.

“No, it’s fine. It’s just like I imagined it would be.” Krycek smiled and Mulder wondered what the hell that was supposed to mean. He finished making the tea and passed him the mug and they sat on the couch.

“Are you…okay?” Krycek asked after a minute.

“…I don’t know.” Mulder looked away. “I just…what if she doesn’t…make it?”

“She’ll be okay. You have to believe that.” This time when Krycek reached for Mulder’s hand, Mulder met him half way.

“It’s not easy….”

“Really? Seems like you can believe anything…” Krycek sipped his tea from the mug in his free hand. “This tea tasted like crap, by the way…”

“Hey.” Mulder couldn’t take it anymore. “I need to ask you…what are we?”

“You mean right this second, or?”

“Alex.”

Krycek put the mug on the coffee table and turned towards Mulder.

“First of all, don’t call me that unless you want me calling you Fox. And I don’t know…let me ask you something. What about Scully?”

“Scully?”

“Aren’t you, I mean…don’t you love her?” his voice was very quiet and his hand slipped out of Mulder’s.

“I do love her. I love her as much as you can possible love another person. But that’s it.” It was a weird answer, but it was the truth.

“That’s it?” Krycek crossed his arms and shook his head. “You know, when they put me on the X-files, they told me you were a little…insane.” He sighed. “But they also said you were intelligent, and determined. Now, all of that sounded like a lot to deal with…and it was…but…”

“But?”

“I don’t know.” He didn’t look at Mulder. “All of it is the best part about you.”

“Then let me ask you this.” Mulder grabbed Krycek’s hands and placed them against the sides of his neck. “Do I have a fever?”

“…You are such a fucking nerd.” Krycek laughed as they both leaned in.

“And you’re a brown-nosing, shoe-polishing—“ Mulder didn’t get to finish the insult he’d been rehearsing since the first day they met, because Krycek’s hands slipped around the back of Mulder’s neck and pulled him down until their mouths collided in a heated kiss.

That very fuzzy twilight, somewhere between awake and asleep was the only time Mulder actually let himself imagine what it would be like to kiss Krycek. He also may have let the thought cross his mind whenever they held hands. Needless to say, maybe due to the fact that he hadn’t kissed someone in ages, but it was better than he could have imagined.

“O мой Бог…” Krycek mumbled when they parted for air. The fact that he couldn’t even think coherently enough to speak English was such a turn-on.  Mulder wanted nothing more than keep kissing him forever. To melt against him until there was nothing left but the two of them, all the pain of the world gone.

“This…okay?” Mulder whispered, dropping his head down to latch his mouth against the side of Krycek’s neck.

“Yes… Да, Бог.” Krycek breathed as Mulder swiped his tongue down across his collarbone. Mulder didn’t know what he was saying, but he loved it.

It was five in the morning when Mulder got the call about Scully. The blaring phone jolted him out of sleep. He sat up on the bed and looked around. Krycek was pressed against him, one arm around Mulder’s waist. Mulder carefully nudged him off before rushing into the living room and grabbing up the phone. His enthusiasm at the message on the other line was unprecedented.

***

“Hey, you okay?” Krycek’s voice brought Mulder out of his thoughts. The surroundings of the hospital hallways flooded his vision as he opened his eyes.

“I am now.” He smiled.

“Good. I uh, have to go take care of some stuff back at the office. I’ll see you later.” Krycek squeezed his hand before leaving.

Mulder went home and showered before going back to visit Scully. When the weekend was over, she was finally allowed to check out of the hospital. Though she went back to work, she was confined to paper work only.

“Wow, nothing’s changed here…” She looked around the basement office. Her eyes landed on the calendar that still showed January. “Literally.”

The door opened and Krycek stepped in.

“Well, it’s official, I’m moving back up to desk work…” he didn’t sound upset.

“I can’t believe you’re leaving the X-Files. You just got here.”  Mulder grumbled.

“Is it because of me?” Scully asked quietly.

“No, no.” Krycek shook his head. “I just…I don’t like having nightmares about ghosts and stuff.”

“You told Skinner you liked working here…” Mulder said defensively.

“I also told Skinner I got this bruise from falling down.” Krycek tugged down his collar, exposing the mark Mulder had left.

“Oh, dear lord.” Scully sighed loudly. “Can you two…not? Please?”

“See, you’re making Scully uncomfortable.” Mulder shook his head.

“Enough.” Scully opened and closed the desk drawers. “I wanna see the reports you two did while I was gone.”

“Okay…” Krycek opened the filing cabinet and handed her the copies. “Read the one about the vampires, it’s a real doozy.”

“You let him write that? You let him write whatever he wanted?” Scully asked, flipping through them.

“Well…would you say no to that face?”

“I would and I have.” She suppressed a smile.

“Well, I guess it’s a good thing you’re leaving.” Mulder grabbed Krycek’s hand. “You kinda suck at this job.”

“Hey, you’re the one who dragged me to Skyland Mountain two hours after we met where you almost fell off the damn tram.”

“You did what?!” Scully asked.

“Well…see you around…tonight.” Krycek slipped away and out the door.

“You’re lucky I’m nice enough to rewrite these…” she smiled sweetly.

“Well, you’re not working tonight.” Mulder took the files from her. “You need to rest.”

“Mulder, I’m not fragile.” She said defensively.

“I’m not saying that.” He put his hands on her shoulders. “I just think you should take a break…come over and we can all watch a movie. Krycek rented some crap with subtitles…”

“Honestly, what’s the deal with you two anyways?”

“Hey, somethings are private, Scully.” Mulder grabbed his coat and took her hand.

“Really? Because you two are sporting matching hickies…”

“Oh haha.” Mulder closed the door behind them as they stepped out into the hallway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
